Pools and Pointe Shoes
by Le Blanc Tulipe
Summary: Swimming is a competitive sport that involves specific techniques. Ballet is a dance characterized by light, graceful movements and precise steps. Both require an intense cycle of training in order to become successful. When Rei's ballerina cousin takes an interest in the swim teams at Iwatobi and Samezuka, friendships are formed.
1. Chapter 1

"Where the hell is he?" Rin growled, glancing up at the clock on the wall. Joint practice between Iwatobi and Samezuka had officially started 10 minutes ago and Rei had yet to show up. Being late wasn't exactly against any rules or anything, but Rei had never been late to a practice in his entire time on the swim team. Rin wasn't worried about Rei, he was more annoyed at the inconvenience Rei was causing.

"Don't worry, Rin-chan! He probably just lost track while reading or something," Nagisa reasoned, always the optimist.

"He's never late though," Makoto agreed with Rin's sentiments. "I hope he's okay."

"He better be lying dead in a ditch. That's the only reason being late to my practice would be considered acceptable." Every Monday, the swim teams at Iwatobi and Samezuka participated in a joint practice that were always headed by Rin. Makoto didn't mind turning the reigns over for the afternoon seeing as how he was more laid back than the read-headed captain.

"Rin!" Makoto warned his friend. Just as Rin was about to argue back for no other reason besides the fact that he was grumpy, Rei slid into the room. His friends were a little surprised to see he wasn't alone. Riding atop his back with arms wrapped around his neck was a girl. She was dressed in leggings and a hoodie and had her black hair tied up in a tight bun. Rei let the girl slide off his back and onto a bench against the wall. He turned to say something to her before heading over to his team, who were awaiting his arrival with curious looks.

"I apologize profusely for my lateness," he began. "I assure you I have an explanation for my tardiness."

"Who's that?" Nitori joined the group and pointed to the girl who had stretched herself across the bench and was typing on her phone.

"She is the reason I was late."

"Listen fooling around with your girlfriend isn't a valid excuse for being late for practice," Rin growled under his breath.

"E-excuse m-me!" Rei spluttered. "Airi is hardly my girlfriend. She is my cousin." Rin's face blanched in embarrassment and his next thought was caught in his throat.

"Rei-chan! I didn't know you had a cousin," Nagisa gushed merrily. "She's so cute! What school does she go to? Why is she here today?"

"Nagisa." Makoto put a hand on his shorter friend to cease his bouncing and incessant questions.

"I apologize for not getting permission in advance," Rei addressed Rin, "but it was an emergency; I had to bring her here."

"Emergency?" Haru had pulled himself from the pool and was now standing with the rest of them, dripping on the tiles beneath him. He looked over at the girl everyone else's attention seemed to be on. She was curled up on her side and watching the Samezuka swimmers do laps across the pool with a bored look on her face.

"Yes. You see, my cousin does ballet: the most beautiful sport of all. Today at rehearsal, one of her fellow dancers dropped her out of a lift."

"Ouch!" Nagisa exclaimed.

"Yikes," Makoto agreed. "Is she okay?"

"For the most part, yes. She strained her hamstring and as a result has to sit out the rest of the week just to make sure she doesn't make it any worse. When you get an injury in a sport like ballet, there is a great danger that putting strain-"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it. That doesn't explain why you brought Swan Lake along," Rin retorted.

"I was getting to that." Rei shot Rin a look to go along with his unamused tone. "My aunt is working and my mother is out of town so there was no one to take her to see the doctor except me. Afterwards, I didn't want her walking, especially not all the way home by herself. So I decided the best idea would be to bring her here and take her home when practice concluded. I promise she will not make any sort of disturbances. It will be as if she-"

"I get it! Whatever, it's fine." Rin turned his back on them and stalked back to the edge of the pool where he snapped his googles on and dove in. The others trickled back to what they had been doing before the disturbance. Rei shook off the stupor and took his tracksuit off to join his team. Twenty minutes later, as Rin was barking orders at members of his team who had been goofing off, Makoto noticed he was one team member short.

"Where did Nagisa slip off to?" Haru gave him a blank look and a shrug. Rei let his feet touch the bottom of the pool and pulled the googles from his eyes.

"He was here just a moment ago," Rei told his captain. Their attention was grabbed by a tinkling laugh from the side of the pool. Nagisa was leaning against the edge of the pool and Airi was lying on her stomach near the edge, chin tucked in her hands.

"Airi!" Rei snapped as he swam over to where the two were. Haru and Makoto exchanged a brief glance before following. "What are you doing up? I told you to stay put! I promised Rin you wouldn't be a nuisance."

"I'm not being a nuisance!" Airi defended herself, scrunching her nose up in frustration. Her eyes were the same bright, violet color as Rei's, but held a sense of mischief behind them that Rei didn't have.

"I don't mind, Rei-chan! I like your cousin. She's funny and really cute," Nagisa gushed, making the dark-haired girl blush.

"If you're going to be like that though, I'll go back to my bench," Airi sighed and stood up, making sure to keep from slipping on the wet floor.

"Careful!" Rei scrambled out of the pool and reached out to help her walk over to the bench.

"No! You're all wet. I can walk there myself, Zaki-bō." Rei scowled at the nickname his cousin used for him. It was obvious by the smirk on her face that she had used it with the intent of bothering him. He waited and watched her limp back to her seat just in case she slipped.

"Are you all planning on swimming today or are you just going to stand around?" Rin yelled at the Iwatobi swimmers. They quickly resumed their swimming in order to appease the grumpy Samezuka captain. Practice ended and Rin gave some final words to his team before sending them off to the showers.

"Good practice, Rin. We'll see you next week," Makoto said, smiling. He merely growled something under his breath and followed his team to the showers. Makoto shrugged off the interaction, chalking up Rin's hostility to a bad day. He grabbed a towel and joined his team, who were all gathered by the bench. Rei had slipped his tracksuit on and replaced his googles with his glasses. He was gathering his stuff quickly as Nagisa chattered away at Airi, who watched him with an amused glint in her eyes. Haru stood with them silently, staring off into the distance.

"If you will excuse us, I have to make sure Airi gets home safely." Rei squatted slightly with his back to the bench so Airi could get on his back. She pouted for a moment before wrapping her arms around her cousin's neck and her legs around his stomach. He made sure she had a good grip before heading towards the door.

"Bye, Airi-chan!" Nagisa shouted. "It was nice to meet you!" Airi hollered a goodbye back over her shoulder before the two disappeared around the corner.

Next Monday, the Iwatobi team was filled with a sense of déjà vu when Rei was once again late to practice. The Samezuka team was already running drills under the watchful eye of Rin, who seemed to be in a better mood today. Makoto crouched down and waited as Nagisa slapped the side of the pool and resurfaced.

"Did Rei say anything about going somewhere besides practice after school today?" he asked he younger swimmer. Nagisa shook his head, sending droplets of water everywhere.

"He brought her again." Makoto and Nagisa had their attention grabbed by Haru's monotonous tone. Rei was marching towards the same bench from last week, dragging his cousin behind him. Both were scowling and as Rei shoved Airi onto the bench, the two engaged in a brief argument before Rei stomped over to his friends. The slight commotion had pulled the attention of Rin and Nitori who drifted over to the Iwatobi team.

"I apologize once ag-"

"I see you brought along Sunshine again today." Rin had an eyebrow raised and a curious expression on his face.

"Yes," Rei hissed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He let out a long sigh to regain his composure before going on with an explanation. "When Airi arrived at rehearsal today, she thought it was a good idea to confront the boy who dropped her last week. Unfortunately, Airi's idea of confrontation is not conversation, but instead punching people in the face." Rin snorted and Makoto gave him an unamused look. "Anyway," Rei continued. "She's suspended for the remainder of the week and I had to escort her out of the studio because she was...well let's just say she was a little hostile."

"And you brought her here?" Rin wasn't mad, but he wasn't entirely thrilled to have Rei's cousin present at practice once again.

"I don't trust her anywhere else."

"Fair point. Carry on." Rin turned his back on headed back over to the pool with Nitori right on his tail. Joint-practice went on as usual once again and soon enough, the teams were dispersing. Rei made a beeline over to his cousin who had book and papers scattered around her and was chewing on the end of a pen.

"We are leaving now, Airi," he ordered, hands on hips. She quickly gathered her belongings so she didn't further agitate her already miffed cousin. Before she even had a chance to say goodbye to Rei's friends, he was dragging her away.

"I swear, if he comes in late with that girl _again_..." Rin paced the floor with his arms crossed, shooting glares at the clock. Rei had yet to arrive for practice for the third week in a row.

"He's never like this when we meet at Iwatobi." Gou stood near her brother watching him stew.

"You haven't been to these practices the last two weeks. Ryugazaki was late two weeks ago because his cousin was hurt or something and last week because she punched someone in the face."

"She sounds...fun." Gou knew her brother was getting so upset by Rei's continued lateness because he thought it was undermining his authority. Rin was concerned some of his own team would start showing up late. Sure enough, a minute later, Rei came into view with Airi. This week, he didn't look flustered or angry; he looked concerned. Airi looked like she had been hit by a truck. She collapsed in a heap on her usual bench and let out a delicate sneeze.

"Don't." Rin held up his hand as Rei approached and opened his mouth to apologize. Rin rolled his eyes and walked away, leaving the Iwatobi team together.

"What's wrong with Airi-chan this week?" Nagisa asked.

"I had to stop by her school and pick her up because she's running a fever. I was actually hoping to miss practice _just for today_ so I can get her home and in bed. I promise Makoto-senpai, it is only for today. I assure you that this will not happen again and I will not let Airi make me late for any more practices." Rei had bent in half in a bow in front of his swim team captain and was rambling at a pace nearly too fast to comprehend.

"Of course!" Makoto told him with a smile. "Take care of your cousin. Just be sure to work extra hard at tomorrow's practice so you don't fell behind." Rei expressed his many thanks and bowed again before rushing over to Airi. He gingerly helped her stand and guided her out of the building with a firm arm around her waist.

The next day, Rei was already in the pool by the time the rest of the team arrived. He had kept true to his promise to Makoto and was already working hard. After a few mandatory stretches per Gou's request, the others changed into their swimsuits and joined Rei in the pool. Practice was going better than usual that day with several of the members setting personal records. Makoto was giving Nagisa a few notes on his entry into the water when Rei's voice stole their attention.

"Airi!" The others turned their attention to the small ballerina who was standing by the edge of the pool. It was apparent she just come from dancing because she wore a leotard, tights, and a tutu all a pale pink color, with a blue hoodie over them. Her duffle bag was slung over her shoulder and she gripped the strap tightly in one of her hands.

"I have had a stroke of inspiration!" she announced proudly. Rei and Nagisa pulled themselves from the pool as the other three drifted closer to listen in.

"Inspiration? What are you talking about? And shouldn't you be at rehearsal?"

"You remember how last week I was telling you about the project we have coming up?"

"Yes," Rei replied shortly, crossing his arms.

"Well I've decided what I am going to be doing my project on." Airi smiled smugly and placed her hands on her hips.

"What?" Rei tilted his head to the side and quirked an eyebrow, obviously concerned to where this was going.

"You!"


	2. Chapter 2

"WHAT?" Rei spluttered, nearly slipping on the slick, pool floor beneath him.

"Well, not _you_ specifically," Airi clarified. "But on the swim teams at Iwatobi and Samezuka."

"I'm still confused. What on earth is she talking about?" Makoto asked looking back and forth between Rei and Airi.

"It's a choreography assignment. We have to choose a theme and create four separate dances: a pas de deux, pas seul, and then a contemporary solo and duet."

"What's a padado?" Nagisa asked. "And a pasul?"

"A pas de deux is dance for two and a pas seul is a solo variation. Both are ballet terms," Airi explained. "I have four other dancers in my group and I've been assigned the job of choreographing the four different dances for all of us. Since it's four different dances, and there are generally four different swimming strokes, I figured it would be perfect!" Airi finished her explanation excitedly, glancing at each of the swimmers with a hopeful glimmer in her eyes.

"That sounds like a perfectly fine idea, but why are you here telling us about it?" Rei questioned, adjusting his goggles.

"Because I need all of you for _inspiration_!" she announced with a flourish. "If I'm going to learn and teach how to move in the style of your swimming techniques, I'm going to need to watch your every move."

"That sounds like it entails you attending more practices..." Rei droned, uneasily.

"Exactly! And you coming to my rehearsals and making sure we're portraying your sport correctly. Oh!" Airi squealed, clapping her hands together. "This is going to be so much fun."

"Hold up, petal," Rei placed a hand on her shoulder. "No one has agreed to anything. You going to need both swim team captains to allow you to attend practices and volunteer their swimmers for your rehearsals. You can't just expect everybody to agree to this sch-"

"I'm okay with it," Makoto shrugged. "It sounds like it could be fun."

"Really?" Airi was squealing again. Makoto barely had time to nod before she was throwing her arms around the tall boy even though he was still soaking wet. He stumbled backwards, but managed to put a hand on her lower back and steady them both. She quickly backed away and turned bright pink. "Sorry! I get a little carried away sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"Thank you so much." Airi ignored her cousin.

"I'll still need to check with Rin about it, but it should be fine."

• • • • •

"No."

"Oh, c'mon." Makoto followed Rin as he circled the pool, watching his team practice exchanges. "It would really help her out."

"Why do I care about helping her out?"

"You don't have to care about helping her out. You just have to let her watch an occasional practice and loan out a couple of swimmers for a few hours after swim practice," Makoto explained.

"No," Samezuka's captain repeated.

"Why not?" Makoto questioned. Rin halted and turned to the taller captain, shooting him a dark glower. "It won't cost you anything. You don't even have to talk to her or interact with her if you don't want to."

"Why are you so intent on this?" Rin asked, crossing his arms.

"Because she's Rei's cousin and I like her. She's sweet and it would really help her."

"You just wanna see her prance about in skimpy outfits," Rin taunted. Makoto did everything he could to keep himself from rolling his eyes.

"Actually, I just want to help a nice girl out. Not everything had to be based upon an ulterior motive. Think about it at least?"

• • • • •

All of the members of Iwatobi arrived at the next joint-practice right on time. Gou took no time running over to her brother and rattling on in his ear about something insignificant. He tuned her out as he made his way over to Makoto.

"Let her do whatever she wants; I don't care," he shrugged. His response was a wide smile from the brunette.

"That's good news." He turned around to the entrance to the pool. "We've got his approval!" he shouted merrily. Airi skipped through the door with a triumphant look on her face like she knew all along she'd get what she wanted. She was wearing the stereotypical tights and leotard which were covered in a sweatshirt that looked to be three or four sizes too big for her slight frame. Rin grit his teeth and turned his back on the perky kid.

Makoto's promise of her staying out of the way was thankfully true. The girl...whose name escaped him...walked up and down the sides of the lanes taking pictures and scribbling notes in a sketch pad. She looked like his sister at swim meets only he supposed she was far less interested in the muscles than Gou was. The only other girl at the practice trailed the smaller girl with an unending stream of thoughts flowing from her mouth. The Matsuoka girl was glad to have feminine company in the midst of all the testosterone. The ballerina didn't seem to mind as evidenced by the small, amused smile that sat on her face the entire time. Rin couldn't help the scowl that set on his face when Airi took a special interest in Haru.

"Of course," he muttered. He shouted at Momo for not focusing to release the tension building up in his shoulders. She eyed the dark haired freestyler for another five minutes before Nagisa stole her attention with his handstands in the pool. Her tinkling laughter earned several glances and appreciative smiles from the others swimmers, but their focus on her was quickly broken when Rin cleared his throat. The small blonde continued to entertain Airi who after taking a few pictures, focused intently on whatever she was putting in her notebook. Nagisa was out of the pool and peering over her shoulder before she knew it, eager to get a look at what she was doing. She snapped the book shut and despite his whining and hanging off her arm, she wouldn't let him take a peek. Rin had to admit, she had a strong resolve when it came to the small swimmer. Normally his irritating moans would break anyone else in a matter of minutes and they would give him whatever he wanted. This girl resisted, all the while with an amused smirk on her face. Rin left the Iwatobi team and their little ballerina to their own devices, but he finally snapped when he saw Sousuke leaning nonchalantly against the wall, smoothly charming her. He was still soaked from swimming laps, but neither him nor the girl seemed to notice the puddle forming at their feet. The girl hugged her sketch pad tightly to her chest and smiled sweetly up at the Samezuka star.

"That's it," he growled under his breath. He marched over to Makoto who was timing Rei's lap across the pool. "She can distract your team all she wants, I don't care. But I don't want her bothering mine!" Makoto clicked the timer's button as Rei smacked the edge and turned to the irritated red head with a brow raised. "I don't want Buttercup over their batting her lashes and distracting my swimmers when they're supposed to be practicing!" His shouts had attracted the attention of those he was shouting about.

"What are you grumbling about?" Sousuke sauntered over to his captain in an arrogant swagger; Airi followed.

"Tachibana promised their little tag-along wouldn't bother me or my team."

"She's not bothering me at all," Sousuke purred at the bright-eyed girl. She shot the tall boy a smile in response.

"I don't care. Get back in the pool," he ordered. Sousuke shrugged

"Later, darling." He gave the girl a wicked smile and a wink. Rin would have words with his roommate later.

"I'm sorry, I asked him about the stroke he was swimming. My fault." This was the first time Rin had heard the girl speak. She had been silent around him until now and only her giggles had echoed through the building.

"Listen, Firebird, I don't care what you do as long as you stay out of the way."

"Airi."

"What?"

"It's my name. I didn't know if you knew it. You keep calling me other things, but my name is Airi." She offered the captain a small smile.

"I honestly don't care. Just...keep to yourself, kid." A deep scowl graced Airi's delicate features and it took both Makoto and Nagisa to prevent her from marching after Rin and giving the arrogant guy what for.

"Leave it be, Airi-chan," Rei advised. "He's always like that."

"Well that's no excuse! I certainly won't be using him for any source of inspiration." The Iwatobi swimmers chuckled and drifted back to practice one by one.

Rin was determined to give Sousuke a piece of his mind that evening, but he was already asleep by the time Rin returned. He figured it would have to wait until after the next day's practice, but Sousuke managed to slip away moments after Rin dismissed the team. He sat waiting in their room for his return, but exhaustion took him over before his roommate came back. Rin wasn't even surprised that Sousuke was gone the next morning. That night, he was determined to confront him about his strange behavior. It was nearing 11o'clock when Sousuke flung the door open and strutted into the room.

"Where the hell have you been this week?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Don't play dumb with me; you know what I'm talking about. You keep leaving early in the mornings."

"I've been going for runs in the mornings instead of the afternoons," Sousuke shrugged.

"Yeah and then where have you been disappearing to in the afternoons when practice is over?"

"I have other things to do," the taller one argued. He was met with the silent, judgmental stare of his old friend. "Alright," Sousuke sighed. "Airi asked for my help so I've been at her rehearsals helping out."

"I believe that," Rin said sarcastically.

"She did!" Sousuke threw his hands up in defense. "She says she loves my freestyle stroke," he smirked.

"Okay first of all, if she thinks _your_ freestyle is good, she knows absolutely nothing about swimming. Anyways I saw her watching Haru at practice."

"She told me getting Nanase to show interest in her rehearsals has been... _difficult_."

"I'm not finished. Second of all, since when have you cared about helping anyone?" Rin scoffed.

"Don't give me that! Airi's nice."

"Yeah and nice to look at."

"Oh, so you've noticed?" Sousuke raised an eyebrow.

"You're just hanging around because she's a pretty girl who obvious has some... _thing_ for you so you're taking advantage of that because you obviously want _something_ in return."

"Are you really going to be like that?" Sousuke crossed his arms and frowned. "Yeah she's cute or whatever, but she asked for help and you know what? It's kinda fun."

"Fun?" Rin questioned skeptically.

"Mmhmm." Sousuke climbed into his bed and yawned lazily. "Why don't you tag along some time I go?"

"I can think of many _many_ reasons why I shouldn't go with you," Rin grumbled, falling into his own bed.

"Your loss. All I'm saying is if she saw _you_ swim, maybe she'd want you around."

"Why would I care if she wanted me around?"

"Because I think you'd be a little less stressed if you had that cute, little ballerina worshipping your every move." This statement finally silenced Rin and Sousuke could tell his roommate was mulling it over. All Rin needed was his ego stroked from time to time. Sousuke knew he had won this argument and smiled smugly as he drifted off to sleep.

The next joint practice, Sousuke watched with great amusement as Rin paced by the pool and glanced over at the door every few minutes; he was eagerly awaiting Iwatobi's arrival. When the four boys and two girls arrived, Rin stopped his nervous movements. He turned to his team and shouted at his team to stop 'standing around and get to work' with a very authoritative tone in his voice. Iwatobi was quick to join and Rin watched as the ballerina circled the pool with her hands clasped behind her back. His inquisitive gaze turned sour when once again, she halted at Haru. It took all of Sousuke's effort not to laugh at the little pout his friend was sporting. Rin's sulk became aggressive once she squatted down next to the pensive swimmer and began talking to him. Haru actually didn't seem to mind her question's and appeared to be responding to her.

"Fine, I'll play that game, sweetheart," he muttered. He spun around and barked at one of his swimmers whose name he honestly didn't know to get out to the pool. The first year quickly complied and scurried to the side as the captain took his place on the starting block. Rin snapped his goggles on and glanced over at Haru's lane from the corner of his eye. He was pleased to see the girl's attention had been diverted in his direction. He dove into the water and pushed himself forward at an incredible speed. In a flash, he was back to where he started, slapping the wall of the pool.

"Wow, Matsuoka-senpai!" Nitori gushed. "I think that may have been a personal best." Rin took an air of nonchalance as he climbed from the pool and shook the water droplets from his hair. He tossed his head to the side to take in the dancer's awe. There was not only a surprisingly lack of awe but a lack of certain female he was showing off for. She was off to the side of the pool laughing at something Rei had said. "Matsuoka-senpai?" Nitori bit his lip in concern as Rin clenched his goggles in his hands and stormed away from the pool. Sousuke had watched the whole thing and swallowed his laughter as Rin came towards him.

"Did she even watch?" Rin sounded like a scorned lover, but looked more like a wounded puppy. Sousuke bit his tongue and took a deep breath before answering to prevent laughing in Rin's face and upsetting him more.

"She watched for a minute and then the tall one on Iwatobi's team started talking to her."

"Damn."

"You can still come with me to her rehearsal after practice tomorrow. She'd be happy to have you and maybe with fewer people around being distracting, she'll be more likely to notice her senpai." Sousuke ignored the scowl.

"Fine. I'll go with you tomorrow."

• • • • •

The next afternoon, Rin grumbled the entire train ride to the studio. He had pulled his hood up and shoved his hands in his pockets: a picture-perfect, angsty teen. The trip seemed to take twice as long for Sousuke who had to suffer through the complaints instead of enjoying the usual silence that came with solitude. An immense flood of relief washed over him as the studio came into view. When they entered, the Iwatobi team was there along with four people Rin didn't recognize. He assumed they must be other dancers based on what they were wearing and because they were spread across the room stretching. The ballerina that Rin recognized came into the room dressed as she usually was. The only difference was the shoes she wore now. Rin knew they were some sort of ballet shoe, but didn't recall the name.

"Good, you're all here." She examined the occupants of the room, halting briefly when she made eye contact with Haru and Rin. "Two new faces today, I see. These are my dancers: Ryu, Kenji, Zentarō, and Fumie. Just to catch you two up to date, Fumie and Kenji will be doing the pas de deux which will be themed on the breaststroke, Zentarō will be doing the contemporary solo which is themed on the backstroke, I'll be doing the ballet solo themed on the butterfly stoke, and then Ryu and I will be doing the contemporary duo which, since it's the only stroke remaining, is based off freestyle. Keep in mind, the dances aren't going to be _literal_ , but will represent all of the different stroke styles. Anyway, I'm glad you all are here again. I've scrapped a lot of the choreography and I think we need to go back to the drawing board." The other dancers groaned. "I know, I know; I'm sorry, but I need you all to trust me on this because I think it's for the best. Let's get to it."

Rin leaned up against the wall next to Sousuke as the dancers spread out and finished stretching. Airi started off by getting Fumie and Kenji going on some basic steps. Nagisa was more than thrilled to demonstrate the breaststroke in great detail for the dancers. Rin soon realized that the shoes she wore allowed her to balance all of her weight on her toes. After inhaling sharply, Rin discovered that what she was doing was normal for her and released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. Sousuke chuckled until Rin elbowed him in the ribs.

"What stroke do you do?" Rin had been too busy glaring at Sousuke to notice Airi approach. She was light on her feet.

"Uhm, what?" Sousuke tried to cover his snicker with a cough, but was unsuccessful; both Airi and Rin knew it was a laugh. Even Airi bit back a smirk.

"What stroke do you do?" she repeated, traces of a conceited smile still on her face.

"Strokes," Rin corrected. "I do butterfly and freestyle."

"Oh! Butterfly like Zaki-chan and freestyle like Haru."

"Sure," Rin growled, gritting his teeth.

"Well we need to work on the contemporary duo so offer input if you have any." Airi walked over to Ryu and he said something that made her laugh. He offered her an arm which she took to balance herself while unlacing her pointe shoes. Rin took the time to give this guy a once-over. He was reasonably tall, lean yet muscular, with sharp facial features. He supposed Ryu was considered conventionally attractive by the female population. A glance over at his sister told him his assumptions were correct; Gou was practically drooling. Airi tossed her shoes to the side of the room and pulled off the cardigan she was wearing. She pulled Ryu to the center of the room with her and he shot a cocky look at Rin.

They didn't get very far before the other three dancers were bombarding Airi with questions like 'does this look awkward?' or about what step would look best next. Rin could sort of understand why Airi had punched someone a few weeks ago; it must be a nightmare dealing with these people. He knew sometimes all he wanted to do was rough up some of his swimmers when they were being difficult and he assumed she felt the same way. By the time they had to bring rehearsal to and end, it felt as if nothing had even been accomplished. Rin told Sousuke just that when they got back to their room.

"Sometimes the process it slow," he said with a shrug. "They got a lot done last week, but now that Airi wants to rework it, it's sort of like being back at square one." Rin threw himself on his bed and sighed. "Don't worry; she'll notice you soon enough."

"I wasn't worried about that!"

"Mhmm." Sousuke let Rin sulk in silence as he fell back into his own bed and was immediately overcome with exhaustion.

When they arrived the next afternoon, they found the studio empty, except for Airi who was lacing up her pointe shoes in the corner of the room. She looked up as they came in and smiled widely. "Sousuke!" She hopped up from the floor and gracefully drifted across the room towards them. "Matsuoka-san." Airi dipped her head slightly in acknowledgement to the Samezuka captain.

"Where's your team?" Sousuke asked.

"We're not a team," Airi giggled. "We're just a group of dancers. There's no real name for that until you get to a professional level which is a company," she rambled.

"Well then where are your dancers?"

"They are still in class I believe."

"This late?"

"Well where they attend school there's a mixture of dance classes along with academic courses throughout the day so it goes a bit longer than normal schools."

"You don't go to the same school?" Rin stood by awkwardly as the two talked, unsure of what was a natural way to stand or hold his arms. Why was he so uncomfortable?

"No. I'm actually privately tutored," she explained. "That way I have one-on-one teaching that takes up less time and I can focus more on dancing."

"Not a bad idea actually," Sousuke complimented.

"Airi-chan!" The small dancer squeaked as she was nearly tackled to the ground by a swimmer not that much bigger. Nagisa had leapt at Airi and thrown his arms around her neck, nuzzling her face with his nose.

"Nagisa!" Rei and Makoto shouted at him in tandem. Airi struggled to stay upright under him. Rei grabbed Nagisa's collar and pulled him off. Airi smiled in thanks and gave her much taller cousin a tight hug.

"You alright?" he asked. She nodded and Rei squeezed her shoulder in what seemed to be some sort of sign of support. Rin was the only one that caught this almost somber exchange between the two of them.

"Airi-chan!" Nagisa bounded back over to the Ryugazaki cousins. "Do that thing again where you go up on your toes." He was fascinated by what ballet dancers were able to do in pointe shoes and constantly gushed over anything Airi did. She rolled her eyes, but obliged, taking Rei's arm to balance. The other four dancers entered at that point, all engaged in a rather loud argument about something none of the swimmers quite understood. They enlisted Airi to be the tiebreaker, but she respectfully declined and called to order the beginning of rehearsal. Rin was pleased to see things moving faster this time and was able to see actual accomplishments being made. He received a rude awakening when Airi had a question about the butterfly stoke and she turned to Rei for an answer.

"Really?" Rin growled in a low tone to Sousuke. "She asks the amateur about it? It's not like I've been swimming all my life or anything."

"So give her your opinion." Sousuke crossed his arms and nodded towards her.

"If she wants it, she can ask," Rin stated pridefully. He wasn't about to make a fool of himself by insisting he was the best person to get information from. Sousuke knew Rin wanted to be asked instead. To him, that would be a sign of that person's admiration and respect. Not that he needed any sort of ego boost.

"Rin-chan is pretty good at that stroke!" Nagisa butted in when Rei spluttered through an explanation to Airi's question.

"Oh, alright." Airi's disappointment was glaringly apparent. "What do you think?" she asked, turning to him. "It has the essence of the butterfly stroke without being too obvious, right?" Rin didn't want to admit that he hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her once she began dancing. He cleared his throat awkwardly and drew his hands from his pockets.

"Do that step you just did again." It wasn't a demand, but a request. It was the nicest tone of voice any of the guys had heard Rin use since they were all children. Airi complied and recreated the step sequence and the pirouette. "Here." He stepped closer tentatively and he could feel all of the eyes in the room suddenly focus on the two of them. Airi exchanged a brief glance with Rei that was unreadable, but it was clear she was intimidated by Rin. He gently reached out and placed his palm in between her shoulder blades and extended the other hand to reposition to right arm. "I know it feels weird, but this is more what the stoke looks like." Airi turned to look at his correction in the mirror and offered a genuine smile.

"That looks a lot better. Thanks!"

"You're welcome," he muttered, shoving his hands back into his pockets and slumping over to the wall again.

"That was adorable," Sousuke taunted.

"Shut up!"


End file.
